Drabelan Fabula
by Chom
Summary: Exactly what it says in the title. A collection of oneshots that will succeed in dragging my name through the mud
1. The People of Surrey vs Harry Potter

**Summary:** Harry Potter stands trial for the murder of Cedric Diggory

 **Characters:** Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore

 **Word Count:** 1589

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 **AN: Geez it's been at least 4 years since I've written fanfiction. Wow. I apologize for my overuse of commas. I have an affinity for them.**

 **Also, I don't know anything about British law proceedings so this is going to follow American law. I like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable on this subject as I've been competing on my school's mock trial team for the past 3 years, but I apologize for any inaccuracies. I did cut out a lot of generic stuff because it is unnecessary to the plot, so no stipulations, ect. and Without further ado… I give you, "The People of Surrey v Harry Potter"**

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 **Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)**

Ancient Runes: _Write about a character shedding light on somebody else's secret_

Extra prompts: Lucius Malfoy, Lawyers AU

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"All rise for the honourable Judge Fudge"

There was a scraping of chairs as both both Plaintiff and Defense stood in respect for the stout judiciary official walking toward his position in the courtroom. Upon hearing Fudge give permission to be seated, Harry felt a twisting in his stomach. He knew he was innocent, but the evidence lined up against him said otherwise. Harry's defense attorney, Albus Dumbledore, had assured the boy that justice would see them through, yet months of having his face plastered across the papers declared as a murderer did little to sway public opinion in favour of Harry Potter.

"At this time the court calls to action the case of the People of Surrey vs. Harry Potter. Members of the jury, at this time we will be hearing the opening statements of each council. Would the Plaintiff please begin."

Harry watched Lucius Malfoy rise from his council table and turn toward the jury box, a smirk on the attorney's lips. It was no secret of the bad blood between Dumbledore and Malfoy ever since the court proceedings fourteen years prior whereupon Dumbledore managed to sway the jury verdict in almost every Death Eater Mob trails toward guilty, causing Lucius to lose his notoriety and respect as a leading defense attorney. Malfoy had then switched his practice toward Plaintiff cases and succeeded in avoiding Dumbledore at court up until the case at present. If Malfoy were to win the trial and have Harry pronounced as guilty, his prestige in the world of law would be restored.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your Honour, council," Malfoy began, his drawling tone creating an air of self-importance, "On the morning of June 24th, 1995, Cedric Diggory began his day excited and ignorant to the horrors that he would face that evening. It was the final day of the Tri-school Tournament, a quadrennial competition between European schools promoting unity and understanding. Young Mr. Diggory had the good fortune of receiving the title of one of his school's champions and was a clear competitor for winning the entire tournament…"

The wringing in Harry's stomach grew more pronounced and aggravating. The reminders of the horrors he had witnessed the day of Cedric's death still vividly imprinted in Harry's memory almost three months after the event. Once Lucius finished his statement, Dumbledore took the floor. The aged lawyer explained to the court that while his client had been present at the murder, he played no part in it. The true criminal was none other than Thomas Riddle, ex-leader of the Death Eaters. Riddle, in fact, had not planned on killing Cedric. Harry Potter was is true intended victim.

Dumbledore ended his speech with a heartfelt reminder that Riddle had gone after the Potter family fourteen years ago and although he had vanished after the murder of Harry's parents, it had long been speculated that he had simply escaped to the continent and gone into hiding. Harry was then called up to the witness stand and the dread really set in. He caught Dumbledore's eye as he was sworn in, the twinkle of confidence easing the young man's nerves slightly.

The questions started out simple: who Harry Was, where he lived, how he knew Cedric. The pace began to change once Dumbledore began asking about Harry's involvement in the Tri-school Tournament. Both lawyer and witness were treading on slippery ground. One mention of Harry's success in the competition and Malfoy would twist Harry's image into that of an over competitive teen who would do anything to win. But if Harry skirted around the competition, Malfoy could claim that Harry was avoiding the truth.

"Moving your attention to the second task," Dumbledore started to say, "What was the challe—"

Lucius Malfoy was out of his seat before Harry could so much as process what was being asked. "Objection, your Honour! We are here to discuss the events of June 24th leading up to Mr. Diggory's murder, not listen to a retelling of a sport that occurred weeks prior."

Harry froze. Dumbledore had explained that his actions during the second event of the tournament was vital to proving Harry's character.

Without missing a beat, Dumbledore calmly replied, "Your Honour, if I may, Mr. Diggory died during the final event of this competition. Every aspect leading up to his death is of the utmost importance." Fudge overruled Malfoy's objection and Dumbledore asked his question again. "What was the nature of the challenge presented?"

There was a back and forth between Harry and Dumbledore over the second task. Harry explained that they were to swim in the school's lake and each champion had to 'rescue' a student floating on a buoy located half a mile into the lake. Dumbledore asked Harry to recall what exactly occurred during the challenge. Harry obliged and explained that one of the champions from the French school, Beauxbatons, pulled a muscle in her shoulder halfway into the task and was therefore unable to complete the task. The person she was supposed to rescue happened to be her younger sister and her buoy rested next to the person Harry needed to rescue.

Halfway into his explanation, Lucius Malfoy raised an objection to Harry's narrative responses. The break in the story forced Harry out of the swing he had got into with his answers to Dumbledore's questions, but the judge overruled the objection and Harry was free to continue. Once Harry explained that he rescued Fleur's sister—who happened to be afraid of deep waters—as well as his own person and successfully proved his good character without further interruptions from Malfoy, Dumbledore focused his attention to the night of Cedric's death.

At first it was easy for Harry to describe the event itself.

" _What was the third and final task?"_

" _We had to go into a maze-like obstacle course thing and whoever reached the trophy at the centre first won."_

" _Would you please describe the maze?"_

" _Uh, yeah. It was a hedge maze and the walls were like 4 metres tall so you couldn't see anything outside."_

" _If you couldn't see outside, how was the audience able to see inside?"_

" _Well, there were supposed to be cameras inside the maze and a big screen was set up to watch, but something happened with the connection during the event. I'm not really sure when it happened, though, because I was inside the maze."_

" _Okay, and how would the judges know when the winner reached the cup?"_

" _It was rigged so that when someone picked up the cup, it would buzz."_

But the discussion of what occurred in the maze brought a lump to Harry's throat.

"Did you cross paths with Mr. Diggory at all during the task?"

Harry took a breath, trying to force his voice to steady itself. "Yeah. Toward the end I ran into Cedric. I tripped over something while running and twisted my ankle. Cedric saw me limping and...and…" Harry's throat constricted again. The memory still fresh. Cedric asking Harry if he was all right. Cedric offering Harry his shoulder to lean on. Cedric helping Harry toward to trophy. Cedric suggesting they tie. Cedric shouldn't have had to die. Cedric was too good.

Sensing his distress, Dumbledore attempted to return Harry to the moment at hand. "What did Cedric do after he saw you?" He prompted.

Harry tried to shut down his emotions. _Give Cedric the justice he deserved_. After a beat, Harry recalled the rest of that horrid night. He talked about entering the centre of the maze with Cedric and seeing the cup. He talked about laughing with Cedric about how the tournament was to promote unity when they were really just pitting students against one another. He talked about their decision to show true unity and grab the trophy at the same time.

Then he talked about the sudden sensation of losing his wind and smashing to the ground. Harry described as accurately as he could the unmistakable guises of the Death Eaters, earning a scoff from Lucius Malfoy. The boy on the stand had to pause then, to stop his mind from pulling up images of Cedric's lifeless body smacking the dirt just moments after. _Focus. Focus. Focus,_ he chanted.

"Once I recovered from the fall and seeing Riddle's mob, I looked around for Cedric. He was...he was being restrained by two Death Eaters. I couldn't see their faces because they were wearing black masks, but I knew that at least one was male."

Dumbledore looked at Harry with a soft expression and asked carefully, "How did you know that?"

"Because he spoke." He said, his voice somehow managing to remain steady. "He turned to the other person that was helping hold Cedric down and said 'Kill the spare!'". Harry changed the inflection of his voice to mimic the coldhearted hissing he had heard that night.

"Objection, your Honour! Hearsay!" Lucius Malfoy had jumped to his feet. "We have no person in this courtroom who can attest to the presence of these _Death Eaters_ , nor do we have the supposed man who said," As he went on to further explain himself, Malfoy attempted to parrot Harry's tone at which he spoke. "' _Kill the spare_ '"

It was as if someone had smacked Harry or hit him with a fierce uppercut. Before either Fudge of Dumbledore could respond to Malfoy's objection, Harry's voice rang out.

"It was you," He sounded hollow, as if the sounds leaving him had echoed within his bones, "You were the one who killed Cedric."

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 **AN:** **I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I had a lot more with Lucuis' cross and the truth coming out then, but I felt like it would just get too repetitive with Harry having to pretty much recount everything again just with extra fear of his responses being taken the wrong way. In the end I just decided to stick with everything coming out on the direct.**

 **I hope everything was okay. I've never written HP fanfiction and it's been ages since I've done any creative writing that wasn't an actual essay. I feel like this was pretty bland with too much lawyering, but I feel like it kind of had to be? I don't know. I'd love to know your thoughts. My writing style is kind of meh and I use wayyy to many run on sentences.**

 **Thanks for reading, though**

 **-Abby**


	2. The Homework Conundrum

**Title:** The Homework Conundrum

 **Summary:** Before Hogwarts, Harry _was_ a good student. He swears it.

 **Characters:** Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley

 **Word Count:** 297

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 **Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)**

 **Speed Drabble:** _Dry, Loving, "We don't have time"_

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"'Mione, _please_?"

Hermione sniffed and crossed her arms. "No, Ronald. This is your fault. I told you to get started on it the day of, but as usual you didn't listen."

A dry, humourless laugh came as a reply from Harry. "We get it, Hermione. You were right." He did not bother to look up from his potions essay, or rather, the blank sheet of parchment that was supposed to be his essay.

Ron seemed to ignore Harry's defeat concerning the matter at hand and continued to press the issue. "We don't have time to argue, Hermione! Now will you please help us with this essay?!"

"Have you listened to a word I said?"

"Yes!" As both Gryffindors went back and forth with their retorts, the volume at which they replied increased immensely, "What I don't understand is why are are being so difficult!" Ron stood up from his seat, his chair rocking backward dangerously as he did so.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Hermione brought herself up to her full height as well. Despite being almost a foot shorter than Ron, the managed to stare him down. "You are unbelievable! I do not hang around you simply to allow you to copy off of my work! I am not your personal en—"

"As much as I am loving your company, this essay is due in under an hour," Harry interrupted. He began to collect his things, intent on finding a quiet corner of the library to start his work. Ron began to protest, exclaiming that they were in the same boat and that Harry had to stay, but the other boy cut him off quickly. "You know, before Hogwarts I was a straight-A student. I don't know what happened…" He mumbled to himself.

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 **AN: Ok, I had to write this in under an hour (I think this took 20 minutes tbh) so definitely lacking in the plot department. I've been trying to work on how much dialogue I use, because I use way too much. This fic is no exception.**

 **The main point of this fic was really just to get at why is Harry is such a slacker at Hogwarts because he was a pretty good student before. I mean, granted he didn't have much else to do at the Dursley's, but still.**


	3. Hot Cross Buns

**Summary:** Let's face it. We all had to play it at one point in time.

 **Characters:** Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Professor Flitwick

 **Word Count: 451**

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 **Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)**

 **Music History:** _Write a story that includes on of the instruments above_ (Recorder)

 **Gringotts Prompt Bank:** Figures of Speech ( _Throw in the towel_ )

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The day Albus Dumbledore declared that all third-year students were to take a music-based elective was the day Ron Weasley decided that the headmaster truly was barmy, an opinion the young Weasley was determined to express to his friends. Multiple times.

"What I'm trying to get at," Ron explained loudly, using his hands to create grand gestures, "is why Dumbledore thinks learning about music is more important that lunch!"

Harry ran his hand through his hair. Currently, he, Hermione, and Ron were on their way _to_ music class. "Ron, we just ate…"

Ron threw his arms up in the air, attracting the stares of several passing students. "That's beside the point!"

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The trio arrived at the designated music room relatively early, thanks to Hermione. Harry took the time to examine his surroundings. Two rows of seats were placed in a slightly curved line, the back row standing atop a raised platform. Upon each seat rested a rectangular, walnut coloured box about a foot long. In front of each chair was a music stand.

Professor Flitwick walked into the room as the final bell rang. He directed the Gryffindor third-years to take their seats and began passing out a stack of sheet music. Once done, he went to stand on a stack of music theory books that rested on a conductor's podium. "Welcome to music class!" He said, "We here at Hogwarts believe that music is very important for providing a well-rounded education. Now, please open the boxes on your seats."

Lifting the lid, Harry's box opened with an audible " _crack"_. Inside lay a narrow, reed-shaped instrument that struck a chord of familiarity with Harry.

"This, class, is a muggle instrument called a recorder."

Both Hermione and Harry exchanged a grimace, their memories recalling the high-pitched horror of muggle primary school music classes.

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Thirteen-year-old wizards proved themselves no better than eight-year-old muggles when it came to playing _Hot Cross Buns_ on the recorder. Even Professor Flitwick looked ready to throw in the towel as he attempted to conduct the class of Gryffindors through the third measure of the song. His instructions of "You _remove_ a finger when playing an A!" and "Mr. Thomas, you do not need to lose a lung blowing into the reed!" were drowned out by excruciating, off-pitch squeaking coming from each student's recorder.

By the end of the class period, Hermione appeared to be the only student capable of effectively coaxing a soft, whistling sound out of her recorder throughout all four measures of the song. Professor Flitwick reported the events of the class back to the headmaster with a suggestion of focusing primarily on music theory rather than application with his other third-year classes.

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 **AN: So, I'm not actually sure if British primary schools have kids learn to play the recorder, but it's very common in American elementary schools. Whoever thought that giving a bunch of 8 and 9 year-olds an instrument that gives out high pitched screams would be a good idea must be sorely regretting it by now. Let's just stick to xylophones and glockenspiels from now on, k?**


	4. Kaelling

**Summary:** The first time Scorpius goes to Diagon Alley, things are not as he imagined they would be

 **Characters:** Scorpius Malfoy, Astoria Malfoy (Née Greengrass), Mystery Woman, Draco Malfoy (Kinda? In essence?)

 **Word Count:** 1,399

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 **AN: Scorpius is my baby and I am so happy that Cursed Child!Scorpius turned out pretty similar to my headcannon!Scorpius. Also I may be a little** _ **too**_ **obsessed with francophying the Malfoys.**

 **Mystery Woman is a canon HP character who for whatever reason I feel like leaving a mystery. Bragging rights if you can guess the character (It's not very hard)**

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 **Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)**

 **Muggle Studies:** _Write about someone judged on their appearance_

 **Written for the Pokemon Trading Card Collection Challenge**

 **Skiddo:** _Write about someone sensing that another character is feeling down or low_

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Scorpius doesn't go to Diagon Alley until he is seven years of age. He has been to the smaller, less populated wizarding marketplace near the manor in Wiltshire and the crowded _Marché Manquante_ of Bordeaux when visiting his grandmother in France, but never has he walked down the bustling streets of England's most popular wizarding shopping district. To say that Scorpius is excited about his first trip to Diagon Alley would be a lie. Scorpius is bursting at the seams. He cannot stop his heels from bobbing up and down as he anxiously waits for Father to finish telling Mummy what shops they need to stop at. Scorpius wants to leave _now_!

As Astoria leads Scorpius toward the Floo, the youngest Malfoy babbles about what books he wants from Flourish and Blotts and "I promise I will eat all my vegetables tonight _and_ take a bath, so can we please, please, _please_ go to the joke shop?" all the while allowing his mother to fuss over him ("Remember _Mon Étoile Enjouée_ , keep your cloak up and stick close to Mummy").

The trip through the Floo feels the same as ever, but the location is new. All around him are dazzling colours mixed into a sea of people. Scorpius doesn't know where to look first. In the back of his mind he feels his mother pull his hood up over his platinum hair and begin to lead him down the street, but Scorpius is more enamoured with the excitement around him than where he is going.

Eventually, Scorpius is able to pull himself back into reality and realize he no longer is with his mother. He turns about in a circle, searching because he can't have lost Mummy. He just can't.

Despite his inspection, Astoria is nowhere to be seen. And it's not the thought of his mother's future cross words that send him into a tizzy. It's the way the corners of her lips will tug down ever so slightly and her eyes will take on a shiny, sorrowful feature that he so often sees in his father's own eyes. Scorpius does not want to make his mother worry. His parents always seem to be on edge for reasons he can't yet understand and Scorpius does not want to contribute more to the uneasiness.

It is the feeling of someone lightly touching his shoulder that forces Scorpius to realize he is crying. He sniffles and wipes his face quickly in a fashion that would surely cause his grandfather to lift his nose. The woman crouched down in front of him looks to be about his parents' age going by her developing laugh lines and the muted pockmark scars on her forehead. Her bright curly hair and warm eyes do wonders to ease Scorpius' mind. A kind adult is here with him and she will help him because that is what adults do best.

"Luv, are you alright?" Scorpius looks toward the cobblestone and shakes his head minutely. "Where is your mum?"

He sniffles again before answering, "I've lost her."

The woman tuts and begins to offer her help when the results of remaining stagnant in a busy street catch up with them and Scorpius is jostled to the ground. The woman is by his side before he can even register the brush of air gracing his head from the tumble or the scrape on his palm from the impact. She lifts him up and moves them out of the traffic, fussing about him.

"Oh Merlin, today is not your day is it, Luv?" She is patting invisible dirt off his cloak with a gentle touch and Scorpius is not sure how to react. His family is not a very physical one and the outcome leaves him standing pin-straight, his arms resting awkwardly at his side. The wind laps at his ears.

" _Keep your cloak up"_

There is not a second between the moment that Scorpius goes to lift his hood and the loud intake of air coming from his companion.

"You're a Malfoy!" The woman accuses. Scorpius crinkles his brow at her tone. She is correct in her statement, but why is she acting as if he was masquerading as an acromantula. "I thought I'd recognized that face. All that taunting. But it's the hair that sealed the deal! You Malfoy men are all copies of one another."

It is Scorpius' turn to be astonished. "You know Father?" It is not very often that Scorpius encounters people from his father's past. He thought back to the times his father introduced him to an old acquaintance that wasn't Ms. Parkinson or Mr. Nott, but came up empty. Even the aforementioned wizard Scorpius had only met a handful of times at the most. Draco Malfoy is a very solitary man.

The woman responds with a sneer that makes Scorpius think of his father, "Of course I know your sodding father! The whole of Wizarding Britain knows about blinking Draco Malfoy! It's a wonder he managed to snag a wife with the reputation he has, although money does wonders. Even for Death Eater…"

By this point, Scorpius tunes the woman out, partly due to not knowing half of what she is talking about and the other part being that she had sworn. _Twice!_ Mummy never swore and Scorpius imagines she would be very cross if she knew he was listening to such foul language. He had heard enough behind closed doors discussions between his parents for Draco's occasional use of profanities in his presence. Mummy would be very cross indeed.

But first Mummy is going to be very upset. What if she gets a mood like Father? He has seen when his father has a mood and it scares him. Scorpius knows he's not supposed to snoop around when something is 'adults only', but it wasn't until he caught his father crying in his study during a mood that Scorpius really understood why. Scorpius asked why his father had to lock himself away for a day or so to be sad and why he would even want to do that. Astoria had tried to explain that Draco was raised in an emotionally repressed environment and did not know how to properly express his feelings like herself or Scorpius, but the entire concept flew over the child's head. If Father, who already doesn't know how to properly have emotions, needs to be alone for a few days when he is sad, what does that mean for Mummy, who can emote correctly? What if Scorpius breaks his mother?

Scorpius has already worked himself into an anxious mess when he hears a familiar voice nearby cry out his name. As Astoria approaches Scorpius and the woman— who stops her squabbling monologue and turns to glare at the approaching Malfoy— Scorpius takes in his mother's appearance. Her ash brown hair is windswept and spilling out of her previously immaculate chiffon and there is a clear mixture of worry and relief marrying her expression, but her eyes do not possess the vacancy that Draco's take on during his times of distress.

Taking both of his hands, Astoria crouches down to Scorpius' level and looks straight at him. "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, _Mon Étoile_ , you are never to do that again. I was about ready to go to the Aurors," She then turns to the woman, a thank you on her lips but is interjected by a scathing accusation.

"Are you so disgraced by mothering this little Death Eater spawn that you had to abandon him in the middle of the street? You are mental enough to marry one, so maybe you are living up to your husband's family name and hightailing it out of here. Merlin knows your postnuptial settlement alone is enough for you to live comfortably on some secluded—"

Astoria is quick to whip around to face the woman, still firmly clutching her son's hand. "I would thank you not to speak about my son or my _family_ in such a matter again as I love both very much. I do not know what you get out of heckling a _child_ for events that happened long before he was born, especially given your role." Her voice is cool, never rising above a conversational level. She turns to signal an end to the conversation, but pauses, eyes flashing.

"Sneak"

A crack of _Apparition_ and Astoria and Scorpius Malfoy are gone.

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 **AN: Woah boy, this turned out about 3x longer than I thought it would be. I never write in present tense, so this is my crack at it. I get mixed up a lot when it is appropriate to put in past tense so sorry if things are a bit messy.**

 **I love seeing my poor baby Scorpius suffer and also I love writing innocent children**

 **The title supposedly is a Danish word that describes a spiteful woman (The closest we have in English would be calling a woman a cow I guess. It's not a very nice word let's just say)**

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 **French stuff**

Le Marché Manquante - The Missing Marketplace **I just made this up off the top of my head so excuse the cheese**

Mon Étoile Enjouée - My Bright[est] Star **Can you tell I love alliteration?**


	5. Dame Under Duress

**Summary:** Astoria is a teenager now, she's allowed to be rebellious

 **Characters:** Astoria Greengrass, Draco Malfoy

 **Word Count:** 980

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 **AN: I'm so sorry my fellow snakes! School started for me last week and it's my final year so i've been bombarded with college meeting after college meeting plus homework! I only have about 3 hours to write this before its deadline so bear with me!**

 **Not sure how closely I followed the prompt because it's told from Astoria's POV, but whatever...**

 **Also I will fight anyone who says Astoria is not a Ravenclaw. Her name literally means hawk!**

 **I like to change up the age gap between Astoria and Draco, but for the sake of this story Astoria is 13 and Draco is 15. This takes place in the summer of 1995, so Astoria will be going into her third year and Draco his fifth.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)**

Myths & Legends: _Write about a Damsel in Distress_

 **Gringotts Prompt Bank**

Pitch Perfect 2 ( _Dialogue: "Don't take this the wrong way: you're the dumbest person alive.")_

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog ( _Action: Comparing homeless people to dogs_ ), ( _Dialogue: "You've got a little crush, don't you, (name)?"_ )

The Devil's Carnival ( _Object: necklace_ ), ( _Dialogue: "You stay the hell away from me!"_ )

Hunchback of Notre Dame ( _Dialogue: "Something troubling you, name?")_

* * *

Astoria was still sweeping soot from her dress robes as she exited the Leaky Cauldron and stepped out onto the streets of muggle London. Her heart still pumping from the rush of her actions, she did not have the space left in her mind to worry about logistics, such as having never been to muggle London. Or even interacted with a muggle. But anywhere was better than going back home.

Maybe she would run away to the muggle world. They probably were not even civilized enough to have things like arranged marriages and muggle parents most likely did not choose their child's birthday dinners to drop life changing news!

Astoria had turned around the block and paused to examine her surroundings. The congested number of muggle machines in front of her acted as a barrier for crossing the street. She would have to continue on her side of the street she decided, not wanting to risk the roaring and beeping that led to the other side.

Astoria went to give herself a final dusting off before making a left when her finger got caught in a chain around her neck, the object new and foreign having only just received it half an hour prior. Her— a shiver ran down her spine as she walked on— _fiancé_ had given it to her for her birthday.

The necklace itself was very simple: a tiny gold band, big enough only to slide halfway down her middle finger, attached to a thin gold chain; yet the implication behind the piece of jewellery made Astoria want to gag as she untangled her fingers from the precious metal.

How dare her parents spring something like this on her, she mentally brooded for probably the tenth time.

"Something troubling you, Girlie?"

Astoria stopped short, the sudden abruptness causing her to stumble forward on her heels, barely catching herself in the process. The voice snorted with amusement. Flanked by the shadows of the night, a middle-aged muggle sagged casually against a brick wall. He rested close enough to Astoria that with the aid of the moon she could get a good view of him.

The man wore an oversized jacket that had seen better days and shoes held together with some sort of shiny gauze. His steel grey hair reminded Astoria of Hogwarts' gamekeeper, Hagrid. The knit cap atop his head did little to hide the mess and from the sight of the man alone, Astoria could guess that he had not bathed in quite some time. This man epitomized homeless.

As her mind processed the situation, one of the screeching muggle box machines flew by, its lights reflecting the glint of the wretched necklace Astoria wore. The man's eyes flitted toward the sparkle of light and his hands clenched.

Astoria felt her heart palpitate and struggled to get her body to react. "You stay the hell away from me!" Her voice betrayed her as it shifted into a squeak. She could practically hear her sister laughing at her, _Wittle Baby Astowia's thinks she's aww gwown up, but can't even handow a diwty muggow!_ Her gravestone would read: "Here lies Astoria Greengrass, murdered by a mangy muggle mutt". The only consolation Astoria's death would provide her would be outweighing the family shame of making a scene in front of the Malfoy's at her own birthday dinner.

The man leered toward her, but Astoria remained frozen in place. Her body and mind refusing to work together. At the moment the man looked ready to lunge, Astoria felt a yank on her elbow and let out a shriek as she was jerked backward. Her back collided with another body and firm hands held her close as she struggled to free herself from her new attacker. Just her luck! Not only will she die by muggle, but now she would have two monsters fighting for the kill.

The new presence must have frightened her original predator off because no fight ensued as her new captor dragged her around the bend of the sidewalk. She continued to try to free herself and managed to jab the person restraining her in the side. While his grip did not falter, her captor did let out a rather feminine cry.

"Draco?" Astoria asked incredulously, her body going slack.

She could not turn to get a look at who was holding her, but she recognized the cry after hearing it often accompanied by the laughter of Harry Potter and his friends in the halls of Hogwarts. A posh, drawling voice speaking into her ear confirmed her suspicions about the identity of her… person (She refused to grant Draco Malfoy the title of her saviour. The boy's head could not afford to grow any larger) "Don't take this the wrong way: you're the dumbest person alive," Astoria sensed the smirk radiating from Draco, "Are you sure you were sorted correctly? Acting without thinking seems far more Gryffindor than Ravenclaw to me."

Astoria jostled herself free from Draco and turned to glower at him, her fists balling at her sides. "Oh Shut up!"

If possible, Draco's features grew even more smug. "Is that really how you thank your Fiancé?" His face fell for a moment upon finishing his sentence, but Astoria paid him no head as she began pounding her fists on his chest.

* * *

After Draco had corralled her back into the Leaky Cauldron and through the floo and after she had stood next to Draco as he spun a tale to both their parents that veered so far from the truth it should have made a full circle, Astoria found herself in Daphne's room ranting about outdated pureblood customs and egotistical teenage boys with complexes leading out to the moon. Daphne laughed at her and simply said, "You've got a little crush, don't you, Astoria?" resulting in a brilliantly purple bruise on her shoulder the next morning.

* * *

 **AN: It is my firm belief that the pureblood aristocracy functions in a mixture of Regency and Victorian era customs. I am going to ignore a lot of factors of arranged marriage, though, for the sake of this fic remaining simple. I do have an entire explanation thought of in my head as to why Draco and Astoria and engaged rather than Draco and Daphne, ect but it is far too complicated for a oneshot.**


	6. Untitled

**Summary:** Deaf!Scorpius AU

 **Characters:** Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass

 **Word count:** 646

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 **AN: this plot has been done probably a million times but I'm a sucker for it anyway. Also, please note that I know American Sign Language and not British, so despite them living in England, any sign that is described will be correlating to the ASL sign. This shouldn't be a huge issue, but just a heads up because I don't want to teach myself a whole new language for a fanfiction. (Sorry I'm committed but not that committed)**

 **Uhg I feel so awful for how late all my work has been! I had this whole thing finished on Friday except for the ending but I had to finish up college stuff and then I went to see Hamilton on Sunday, but I finally am done with all my college apps (For now at least) so I can finish this thing.**

* * *

 **Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)**

 _Defense Against the Dark Arts:_ Write about relying on one of the five senses when another one is missing.

 _Extra prompt_ : (dialogue) "Slow down/ Why should I?"

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"Scorpius, slow down" His father elongated the movement of his name sign, a clear indication of the older man's growing frustration that, just as each time before, Scorpius chose to ignore.

"Why should I?" Scorpius continued his retelling of the production of the muggle play _Peter Pan_ he had seen that afternoon with Astoria, a story Draco had never heard of. Scorpius took great delight in teaching his father about muggle things. It made him feel important.

Draco swiped his pointer finger across his forehead, interrupting Scorpius' explanation of a female actress playing the male lead, "Because _some_ of us are not native signers."

This was a common conversation in the Malfoy household. Whereas Scorpius' mother had attended every lesson with her son and had spent countless hours practicing, Draco had been busy with petitioning to the Wizengamot about pressing charges regarding Scorpius' attack, leaving him sufficiently behind his wife and son's lessons. But at least Draco wasn't as bad as Scorpius' grandparents who, more often than not, ended up relying on Astoria to act as a translator whenever they came over to visit.

By the time Scorpius was able to recount his tale in a comprehensible manner for his father, Astoria had made her way into the parlour and announced that it was time to go. Scorpius could not find it in himself to feel frustrated with the amount of times he had to repeat himself when depicting the way muggles managed to make themselves fly with only strings. Today was his eighth birthday and his mother's arrival meant he was going to get his first broom which was A Big Deal.

Astoria corralled the family to the floo place across the room. Attempting to find security in his mother's grip, Scorpius waited for the sight of shifting grates to end. While he did not begrudge his inability to hear sound, being in situations where he was incapable of knowing exactly what was happening and completely reliant upon another person did create a nervous flutter in his pulse.

Fortunately, Scorpius stumbled from the flood, hand still firmly grasping Astoria's, into the heart of Diagon Alley. His father appeared shortly after and the three Malfoy's made their way over to Quality Quidditch Supplies.

* * *

When Scorpius arrived back at the manor he had immediately wanted to try out his new Cirrus 2015, but his parents refused on the grounds that it was too dark out. Instead, Draco spent the evening explaining how to properly mount and fly a broom, as Scorpius would not be able to communicate well with his father once he entered the sky. The instructions were rather difficult to explain due to no words existing in sign language for words regarding the wizarding world and a large amount of signs had to be created. By the time Scorpius went to bed, he felt he knew more about broom operation than the manufacturers themselves.

Morning arrived and Scorpius found himself waking to the natural sunlight filtering into his room rather than the usual vibration charm on his pillow. Retrieving his broom from where he had left it the night before (resting against the frame of his bed), Scorpius made his way to his parent's suite. He rapped the door to their bedchambers and entered right after, finding both his parents dressed and in the middle of a heated discussion.

Normally when Scorpius walked in on his parent's talking, they would begin signing as well even if Scorpius was not included in the conversation. Neither of his parents moved their hands this time. Eventually his mother turned to him, eyebrows pulled close and a tight smile on her face. Draco kissed his wife's cheek and whispered something in her ear before making his way over to Scorpius and clapping him on the shoulder. He crossed both his middle and index fingers and Scorpius nodded, eyes bright.

* * *

 **AN: and I'm going to actually leave it there because the way I envision Scorpius' first flight to play out does not really fit the tone of this story. I am actually super in love with this AU and I wrote so many random scenes that did not fit into this, so expect to see more.**


	7. Voldemort's Children

**Summary:** It's 8 o'clock on September 1st, 2010. Tetty Nott has 3 hours left to convince her father to take her to King's Cross. Theodore Nott has 3 hours to make his daughter see reason.

 **Characters:** Theodore Nott, Tetty Nott (OC)

 **Word Count:** 691

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 **AN: I'm finally back! Life has been so crazy for me.**

 **I've never written for Theo before, but he's always interested me. I'm disregarding Cursed Child as Canon, btw. Tetty's name comes from the final reigning member of the Tudor family, Queen Elizabeth I, of which the name Theodore also derives from. I discovered that Tetty can be a nickname for Elizabeth and I wanted to stick with the letter 'T', so** _ **voila**_ **. (Also I just realized that Tetty is literally 1 month older than me according to this fic)**

 **I'm putting this in the same universe as my Deaf!Scorpius AU, but it doesn't impact the story at all unless you squint super duper hard and close both eyes.**

* * *

 **Prompt**

[HSW&W - History of Magic] _Write for one of the following firsts: First day of school (Muggle or Magical - perhaps even a wizard attending a Muggle University)_

[Extra Prompt] _(Plot point) Fierce opposition from a person/group of people_

* * *

The sound of a slammed door reverberated off the sloping ceiling of the hall, causing Theo to run a hand through his hair. He would have to remember to ask Mippy to check for loose tiles that may have managed to finally break free from the roof. At the moment though, his focus remained on the door of which had been previously opened. Repositioning his glasses that had slipped down his nose during the brisk walk over from the kitchen, Theo brought a fist to the door. _Perhaps Mippy should search outside now?_

"Tetty, open this door!" As expected, there was no response from the other side.

"You are behaving like a three-year-old!" Again, silence followed.

"Do _not_ make me pull out my wand!" This elicited a reaction. A pounding of footsteps followed by a none-too-gentle doorknob jimmying produced the head of a young girl, whose washed-out features greatly resembled the adult in front of her.

The right corner of her lip curled up and her eyes scrunched toward her father. "Will you be using a spell you learned at _Hogwarts_?" she spat, shutting the door once the words were spoken.

Theo sighed and sank to the floor, pressing his back against the shut door. "Tetty," all traces of frustration toward his daughter had left him, leaving only anger toward himself, his father, and society. He had never imagined he would be in this type of situation. The decision to not ever have children was made during his sixth year of school, when Theo realised how deeply involved with Voldemort his father truly was. His family legacy ended the moment Nott Sr. made the decision to align himself with that monster. A world where Voldemort reigned was not a healthy environment for a child— Longbottom and Potter were proof enough of that— and even at sixteen Theo had known that a world where the Light won would be no friend to any generation of Notts. Yet, when a memory in the clothes of a young, American witch from only a month following the Final Battle appeared outside the gates of Nott Manor nine months later (Only to disappear shortly thereafter), Theo was thrust into the world of parenting. He loved Tetty with all his heart, but the world she was born into simply did not love her back.

"I _want_ you to be able to go to Hogwarts. I really do, Luv," How could he make her understand? How does one go about telling a child that everyone hates them simply for being born? Hell, Malfoy'd already had the talk with his kid and the imp wasn't even five yet.

Theo supposed he'd really cocked everything up by keeping Tetty so sheltered. Moving to an isolated cottage in the hilly countryside of Berkshire probably hadn't helped matters.

" _Then why can't I?_ " Tetty's voice cracked toward the end. Theo felt something inside him do the same.

Standing up, Theo tried the knob and found it unlocked. He entered his daughter's bedroom to find her splayed across the covers of her bed, face down. He took a seat on the left side and ran his fingers through her loose, honey coloured hair. Tetty so rarely wore it down, preferring to keep her hair held back in some complicated braid Mippy had taught her a few years previous. The young girl had been so excited this morning, fussing over whether or not bows would make an acceptable impression on the other students.

"There are certain... things that you don't understand," Theo inwardly scowled. He was not cut out for parenting. He struggled to find the correct words, unsure how to continue. "It would be best if you let me home-school you."

Tetty sniffed and pushed herself up onto her elbows. She looked at her dad with large eyes. "But Dad, I really am ready for school. I love seeing you everyday, but I get lonely with only you and Mippy about. I want to meet other children and make friends like in my stories."

"I know," He pulled her close to his side and was quiet for a long while. "Maybe...maybe next year."

* * *

 **AN: Ahh! That did not turn out how I originally intended. In my original outline I had Tetty end up winning the fight and being put into Hufflepuff, but I must say that I actually prefer how this turned out instead. It's such a difficult decision on Theo's end. Tetty is probably one of the first children born to a Death Eater family to reach schooling age, so he doesn't even have anyone else he can really confide in.**

 **Also I don't image Theo ever joining the Death Eaters, but his father played a pretty prominent role and he was for sure friendly with many kids who did become Death Eaters, so he can't really escape the label.**

 **Random side note: I did so much research on Tudor style architecture because that's one of my favourite styles and I thought it would fit the naming scheme if they lived in a cottage designed based off of traditional Tudor houses, but in the end my research was very pointless because I barely talked about the house construction**

 **Hope everyone had nice holidays! (Mine were pretty good, but my mom made us ration the latkes cus she didn't make enough and that was kind of a buzzkill)**


	8. Crushed

**Summary:** Remus experiences his very first crush

 **Characters:** Remus Lupin, Narcissa Malfoy

 **Pairing:** One Sided!Remus/Narcissa, Narcissa/Lucius (Hinted)

 **Word Count:** 269

* * *

 **Prompts**

Hedge Maze: _Left (Remus/Narcissa)_

* * *

 **Please forgive me. I never write romance**

* * *

Remus would never admit this to his friends (especially not Sirius), but Narcissa Black was his first schoolboy crush— not that he knew who she was at the time. Call it stereotypical if you must, but since his very first day at Hogwarts, his eyes seemed attracted to her hair which shone as bright as the moon.

Of course, Remus never imagined having an actual conversation with the girl. She was five years his senior and the green of her tie clashed harshly with his red. That did not stop his mind from wondering, though.

At breakfast sometime after the first month of school, Remus found himself resting his cheek in his hand and narrowly missing a spoonful of oatmeal aimed toward his mouth. Across the hall, the object of his attention held a letter in her hand. She was surrounded by a few friends who chatted among each other but seemed to be paying them no mind, instead focusing on the piece of paper. A hint of blush coloured her face for the briefest of moments and Remus felt himself grow angry, but could not figure out why. The closest full moon was still two weeks away. Next to him, Sirius gave a snort, bringing Remus back to his friends. He looked up at Sirius and saw him glaring at the girl Remus had previously been focused on.

"Merlin, Narcissa! Get a room!" Remus heard Sirius grumble.

"Narcissa?"

"Yeah, my cousin. Every since she got engaged in June, she and her fiancé have been all over each other."

 _Fiancé?!_ Again the pit of anger in his stomach returned.


End file.
